Lone Peak records 23 hits, dominates Jordan to win its second game of the season

If Lone Peak had any rust due to the long break from high school baseball, it didn’t show in on Tuesday.

The Knights delivered a dominant showing on the road against Jordan, winning by a commanding 16-5 scoreline. Lone Peak went off for 23 hits in the game.

Lone Peak head coach Jeremy Berg said his team certainly exceeded his expectations against a Jordan squad that he regarded as one of the best in the state.

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“You can’t expect (23 hits), but when you get it you’ve got to roll with it,” Berg said with a slight chuckle.

Berg attributed the stellar hitting to the work his players put in.

“My guys work really hard. They put in a lot of work outside of the field and it showed today,” he said.

Junior Chris Billings and senior Gage Easton led the way with four RBIs apiece. Senior Berk Barnes provided the highlight hit of the afternoon with a laser, two-run homer to left field in the top of the third inning.

Berg praised the pitching performance he received from his senior ace Braiden Strickland. After a few mishaps that allowed the Beetdiggers to score two opening-inning runs, Strickland settled in and pitched a shutout through the next four innings before being relieved in the sixth.

“He did more than I could’ve asked for and I’m super proud of him,” Berg said. “He battled. I don’t think he necessarily brought his best stuff today, but he was still able to get a really good hitting team out and (Jordan’s) got some of the best hitters in the state.”

While Strickland was making life tough for the Jordan hitters, the Knights offense scored eight unanswered runs to blow the game open and gain a fairly hefty advantage.

Once Strickland was relieved however, Jordan began to make some plays that brought some of the momentum back onto their side. After holding the Lone Peak offense to zero runs in the top of the sixth, the Beetdiggers capitalized by scoring three runs of their own, which cut Lone Peak’s lead to five with one more inning to play.

But when the Knights went up to bat to start the seventh inning, they squashed any momentum that Jordan had gained. Lone Peak scored six runs in the top of the seventh, which gave the Knights their largest lead of the afternoon and dealt the finishing blow to Jordan.

“High school baseball is a game about momentum,” Berg said concerning Jordan’s late comeback attempt. “I think we did a good job not paying attention to their momentum. We just figured we’d let them have that (good stretch), while also focusing on the fact that we had a five-run lead that we could increase.”

Berg mentioned that his team knew that if they were able to score some late runs, it would put the game to bed and that ended up being the case.

The win improves Lone Peak to 2-0 to start its season. Berg said it’s nice to get off to the quick start given what a year of struggle for the state’s baseball players.

“I know last year was tough on guys; my team and I’m sure everybody else went through their rough spots with last spring,” he said, “but it’s just great to get out here, have some decent weather and play.”